Military Appreciation

Family Passes can be purchased at Ace Hardware in Oak Harbor or by calling the Fair Office (360) 221-4677.

Fine art? Relief printing? Huh?

Last weekend Diane Divelbess gave an excellent workshop on Fine Art. The majority of us believe we are great crafters, but when it comes to fine art, we are at a loss. In fact, I would say we are down right intimidated.

Fine art is for the artists right?

Wrong.

In one day, Diane taught us how to transform everyday basic materials into a piece of art we all could be proud to frame and hang on the wall.

We started out with a cardboard base and built a printing block by gluing different pieces of texture on it with a glue stick: lace, screen, ribbon, textured paper, paper doilies, mesh, fabric, staples. Anything was fair game. We were even encouraged to cut away the top layer of the cardboard to expose the corrugated structure.



In many ways it was difficult to design the block because we really didn't know what the print would look like. Would the different textures show up? Did we have areas built up enough or too much? It was also hard to remember that it didn't matter that the block was composed with different colors and materials we wouldn't usually put together. The end result was going to be black. We had to try to envision what image the block itself would create.

When we were satisfied with our 'block', we coated it with polycrylic to prevent the porus surface of all the paper from absorbing the ink and to allow us to use the block more than one time.

While we waited for the polycrylic to dry, Diane put us through our paces with a few art exercises.

It was difficult for many of us to just let go and not worry about the end result of many of the exercises.

Diane also showed us another type of relief printing using water crayons and plastic flexible cutting boards. We drew an image on the cutting board with the crayons, placed a damp piece of paper on the image and rubbed it.

The crayon transferred from the plastic cutting board to the paper. The results were amazing.

By this time, our blocks were ready to be used. Diane gave a us a quick lesson about inking the block and making the print and set us loose.


After seeing how amazing the first print looked we all enthusiastically inked our blocks and began printing.



Guess what?

We mere crafters are artists and we can create fine art! (Diane knew it all along.)

To see more images from this workshop visit our flickr site.

Anyone can participate in the Super 17 workshops. In fact the more, the merrier! Check out the current workshop schedule and if you are interested in attending, drop us an email so we have enough supplies for everyone.

Country Christmas

We are looking for crafters and artisans for our annual Country Christmas. If you are interested please send us an application. Click here for more information.

The dates for this year's Country Christmas are:

Friday, November 27, 2-7 PM with a $1.00 donation for a preview
Saturday, November 28 & Sunday, November 29, 10 AM to 3 PM
Saturday, December 5 & Sunday, December 6, 10 AM to 3 PM
Saturday, December 12 & Sunday, December 13, 10 AM to 3 PM

Hope to see you there!

E-I-E-I-GO!

Congratulations to Molly Kay! Her logo was selected by the Fair Association for the 2010 Island County Fair. The colors will be light blue, navy blue, kelly green and white.

Super 17 Challenge Workshops

Many people express a desire to try the Super 17 Challenge, but they don't know how to sew, how to can, how to make wine, how to garden, or even how to start. We are going to try to offer a workshop once a month to cover specific divisions.

The first workshop will be:

1PM Saturday, September 26th in the 4H Building at the Fairgrounds.

We will be making jam. All the jars, pectin, sugar, lids, equipment and instructions will be provided for $1.01 a jar. For a batch of jam that's under $10.00 a person. You need to bring whatever fruit you want to use and clothes you don't mind getting messy (just in case). Blackberries are ready to be picked right now and you can freeze them (be sure to take them out the night before to thaw). You need 5 to 7 cups of crushed fruit for a batch of jam.

PLEASE RSVP by email if you plan to be there. We want to be sure everyone has enough supplies to make a batch of jam. If you have friends who want to compete in the Super 17 Challenge - the more the merrier! Invite them to come and please let us know they are coming.

We hope to see you there and please email and let us know you're coming!

PHEW! We made it!

You shouldn't ignore a dinner invitation from the president right? Diane, our Fair Association president hosted a wonderful appreciation dinner for all the volunteers who helped make the 2009 Island County Fair a success.

It was great to catch up with everyone after we've had a few nights of good sleep and discuss what was great and what needs a little more work.

There was much laughter, alot of food and many congratulations to go around!

Thank you Diane and Greta for a great evening and thank you once again to all our volunteers for helping us put on a fantastic fair!

To Gary Kay for 25 years of service...

Many of you may have noticed the new ticket booth as you entered the fair this year.

The two story barn building houses 4 ticket windows and the ticket counting room upstairs accessed by a spiral staircase in each of the silos. Thanks to many volunteers, the ticket booth went from a dream to reality in time for the start of the fair and was dedicated to it's designer, Gary Kay, at the opening ceremony.

Gary has been a hard working volunteer at the fairgrounds for at least 25 years. Maintaining buildings, helping out on small and large projects, hauling equipment all over the grounds and being on hand year round to assist in any crisis with a smile and a positive attitude has made Gary a valuable asset to the Fair.

Thank you Gary for being such a great volunteer!